Teens in the House
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Parenting is a challenge and when there are teens, it becomes a bigger challenge. Will Tony and Ziva survive the teenage years with their five? Part of the "You Complete Me" universe.
1. Tali - January 2028

Teens in the House

_Will Tony and Ziva survive the teenage years with their five?_

Chapter 1: Tali – January 2028

"UGH! Parents!" Thirteen year old Tali huffed and headed towards her room. Ima and Abba were such jerks; they never let her do any of the fun stuff with her friends from school. She slammed her bedroom door and flopped onto her bed with a sigh. She had the most uncool parents in the entire eighth grade.

A knock at her door prompted a groan from the teen. "Go away, ZIVA; go away, TONY," she snarked at the door. "I hate you both." When a second knock sounded, she huffed and yanked open the door.

"WHAT?" she asked with an annoyed tone. She softened her glare when she realized that it was her little brother, not a parent.

"I brought you some dinner, Tali," LJ looked apologetically at his big sister. "I thought you might be hungry since you stormed out before we ate." He handed her the plateful of food and a bottle of water, ready to run if she snapped at him again.

"Thank you, LJ," Tali smiled at her brother. "Somebody in this house cares about me." She took the food and closed her door as LJ headed back to the kitchen to finish his chores. She sat at her desk to eat the chicken cutlets, green beans, and macaroni and cheese. She was glad that LJ had brought the food to her since Ima's mac and cheese was one of her favorite meals.

She glanced at the school project that was sitting unfinished on her desk. The stupid school project that had started the whole mess with her parents. She moved the plate of food to the side and studied the pictures that she had printed from Ima's computer. Pictures of her and Ima from 2014; baby pictures of herself; a picture of her first birthday with cake all over and a huge grin on her face in a place she didn't recognize. A picture of her and Ima at the Haifa beach house from 2015. A picture of her and Abba, and another of her, Abba, Uncle Tim and an older man, on her second birthday; the numeral two-shaped candle was a dead give-away. Pictures of herself with Ima and Abba by a small Christmas tree that had been in a folder labelled 'Paris.'

She had looked at the pictures, files and folders on her Ima's computer again, searching for baby pictures of Anthony, Rivka and Beth, and LJ. In all of the folders of their baby pictures, both Ima and Abba were in the pictures. Pictures of Ima holding a sleeping baby, pictures of Abba grinning with a tiny baby in his arms for each one of her siblings. She searched again for pictures of herself with Abba in either 2014 or 2015; nothing. Why?

And therein was the problem that had prompted Tali to ask her Ima and Abba questions. Why were there no pictures of her with Abba before 2016? Where was Ima on her second birthday? Where were the pictures of her first birthday taken? Where was Abba? Ima had shared a look with Abba, and both had gotten very quiet. Tali would swear they both had tears in their eyes. What was the big secret that her parents were keeping from her?

After no responses from her parents, she had changed the subject. A group of the girls from her TAG program was planning to go into DC on the Metro by themselves two Saturdays from the present. She wanted to go with them, but when she brought it up, both Ima and Abba had immediately said no. She had asked why not and they had pulled the standard 'we said no, there is no discussion' card. That's when she stormed away from the table and ran to her room.

She finished her dinner and moved back over to lie on the bed. She had so many questions, and thinking about that Abba seemed to be missing from her early years and Ima from her second birthday party, she had even more questions. Her friend Kristin had a step-father from the time she was about two. Kristin didn't remember her birth father at all and didn't know what had happened to him. Her friend Troy had lived most of his life with his parents living apart because they divorced when he was a baby. Her friend Amayah was adopted from another country when she was a little over a year old.

~Tali~

In the kitchen, LJ let his Ima know that Tali took the plate of food. "Ima, why did Tali say that it was good that someone in the house cares about her? We all love her." He put the plate Ima handed him into the dishwasher and looked up at his mother.

"I do not know, motek," Ziva replied. "Sometimes people say things they do not mean when they are angry. Perhaps that is why she said it." She handed LJ another plate to load in the dishwasher. "When you are angry, you do not always think about the things you say."

"Okay," LJ thought about it some more. "So, why did she say 'go away, Ziva' and 'go away, Tony' when I knocked on her door?" He put the two glasses Ima handed to him into the top rack of the dishwasher.

Ziva sighed, "She is angry at Abba and me. She used our names to show that she is angry at us as her parents."

LJ added, "She said that she hates you, too. That's not nice at all, Ima. Doesn't she really love you and Abba? Why is she so angry anyhow?"

"Again, motek, people say things they really do not mean when they are angry. I am not sure why she is so angry tonight. Abba and I think she is too young to go into DC on the Metro by herself. We have our reasons for saying no to any of you children when you make a request that we think is unsafe or not a good choice."

"It's because you love us, right, Ima?" LJ put the last bowl into the dishwasher and pushed the rack in as Ziva took a dishwasher detergent pod from the box under the sink and dropped it into the well on the door. LJ pushed the door closed and pressed start on the panel.

Ziva leaned over and hugged her youngest, "Yes, LJ, we love all of you more than you know. Being a parent is not always easy; sometimes we have to make decisions that are unpopular, or that make you angry. We do what we do out of love and caring for you. Toda, LJ."

"Al lo davar, Ima. I'm finished with my chores and my homework; may I watch TV until bed time?" LJ asked.

"Ken." Ziva watched her son leave the room as Tony came in from the hallway to their offices and the master suite.

"A penny for your thoughts," he nuzzled into her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

Ziva leaned into his embrace, "Mmm… Tali is on my mind. Tonight's angry outburst was worse than usual for her. I get the feeling there is more going on here than us saying no to her. LJ said that she used our first names when he knocked on her door."

"Hmm… she is a teen, Zi; hormone package ready to explode…" Ziva elbowed his ribs. "Ouch!"

"Do not let her hear you say that, or we will have even more outbursts. Seriously, though, she has been moody since I let her print the photos from my computer for her school project," Ziva replied. "OH! That is why the questions earlier!"

Tony realized the same thing his wife had, "She was looking for baby pictures of herself with me! I think we owe her the truth, Zi; she's old enough to handle it. Really, we've been lucky that this hasn't come up sooner."

"Yes, I guess so; it is just that we have come so far from that time. I hate to dredge up the past, Tony. If we start telling her about that time, will we have to tell her about the other things as well? Do we want to go down that squirrel hole?"

"Rabbit hole, Zi," Tony grinned and turned his wife to face him. "They are going to find out about your past and Eli one of these days, you know. We can either be proactive and tell them when and how we want, or be reactive when one of them finds out more that we want them to know." He locked eyes with her as he spoke, telling her more with his eyes. He understood her reasons for keeping Eli David and his story from the children, but he also knew that when past secrets came out years later, the hurt was even worse.

Ziva was about to reply to her husband when Anthony came into the kitchen. He looked at his parents, thinking about how to ask his question without causing the silence from earlier.

"Ima and Abba," he began. "Um, why, um, was Tali asking about when she was a baby? Are there really no pictures of Abba with her prior to 2016? If so, why?"

Ziva looked at Tony and they locked eyes again, communicating silently as each thought about how to respond to their son.

"It is a complicated story, Anthony," Ziva started.

"Let us please talk to Tali first, and then we will tell the rest of you, okay?" Tony added. "Tali is correct; there are no pictures of me with her during most of her first two years. And, Ima was not around for Tali's second birthday. We will tell you more soon."

"Okay, Abba. Ima, are you okay?" Anthony had noticed the tears in his mother's eyes.

Ziva drew the boy into a hug, "Yes, motek, I will be fine. I love you. And as Abba said, you will hear the story soon after we talk to your sister first."

"Where are the others?" Tony asked Anthony.

"Riv, Beth, and LJ are watching TV in the family room. I just finished my homework," he responded.

Ziva nodded, "Good; please do not say anything to them yet. Will you go watch TV with the others for now, please?" Anthony nodded and headed to the family room to join his younger siblings.

Tony turned to Ziva and put a gentle kiss on her lips after drawing her into a hug. "It will be okay, Zi. Let's go talk to Tali." She nodded and the pair walked to their daughter's room.

"May we come in, Tals?" Tony knocked on the closed door. "Ima and I need to talk with you, please."

Tali stared at the door; she really didn't want to talk, but she did want answers to her questions. She wiped the tears from her face and sat up. She grabbed a tissue from her nightstand and wiped her nose.

Ziva spoke through the door, "We will answer your questions, yaldati. Please let us come in."

Tali opened her door, and immediately turned her back on her parents. She headed to her bed and laid down, with her back to them. Tony and Ziva moved over by her desk. They looked at the printed pictures that were strewn over the desk top. Tony picked up the scrawled questions that Tali had written out in her anger. They turned to face the bed; he sat on the chair and she sat on the edge of the desk.

"Tali?" Ziva said softly. "Please look at us."

When she didn't move, Tony spoke, "Tals? We'll answer your questions, but please look at us while we talk, okay?"

They waited as Tali slowly rolled over to face her parents. They could see the tear tracks on her face and the red-rimmed eyes. Ziva started to move over to the bed, but Tony held her arm to hold her back. They waited, watching their oldest sit up and finally look up at them.

"Tell me." Tali looked from Ima to Abba and back to Ima.

Tony took Ziva's hand in his and gently squeezed. She squeezed back and nodded for him to begin telling the story. They looked at Tali together as Tony drew a deep breath in.

"Back in 2013, when Ima and I still worked for NCIS on Grandpa's team, a lot of things happened that spring. Ima and I got a lot closer, but there were also things going on that we had no control over. We both ended up resigning from NCIS because of an investigation into the MCRT and Grandpa in particular.

"Ima and I were together, but Ima had to travel to Israel to take care of some business. She left before me, and I was supposed to meet her in a few weeks. Things happened here and over there that delayed my trip to Tel Aviv."

Ziva picked up the thread, "I was confronted by my past. You know that I once worked for Mossad. My father was director of Mossad when he was killed in January of 2013. I went into a deep spiral of self-doubt and self-loathing. It was not good, but at the same time, it was something that I needed to do. I just did not realize it at the time. Your Abba came to Israel to find me because I had run away from the ghosts that haunted me. He followed me around the Middle East for almost a month before he found me in the house where I was born.

"I was so conflicted that I did not know if I wanted him there or not. My mind was not in a good place; I had many dark thoughts trying to tear me apart from the inside. Abba tried to get me to get out of my head; to come home with him. We had some good days and some not so good days during that time, but even on the bad days, I still loved Abba so much that I did not want to hurt him any more."

Ziva paused as Tony rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. She looked down at the floor and then over at Tali. Her daughter was watching them with full attention. Ziva nodded to her husband to continue the story.

"Ima tried to make me leave several times, but I wasn't about to give up on her. I pushed her to talk about what was running through her mind. I showed her the 'I will' list she wrote as a child and helped her write a new list for herself. I understood that she wanted to change. I even told her that I would change with her. I was fighting for my Ninja and I told her so."

Tali watched as her Abba wiped a tear from his eye and then locked eyes with Ima. She could tell that they were communicating silently. She could also feel how difficult this was for both of them to tell the story. She saw tears in Ima's eyes as well.

"I was a mess," Ziva continued. "I felt that I did not deserve to be loved and that Abba would be better off without me. He would hear none of it; he kept telling me that he loved me and that he would fight for me. He asked several times for me to come home with him. He did not care if I went back to NCIS; he just wanted me with him. It was hard to keep saying that he had to leave, but we both finally realized that I needed to make the journey to heal my mind alone. Abba also ran out of leave and had to return to DC and NCIS or lose his job. I told him to go, without me."

"Ima was right; we needed to make that part of our journey alone. I needed to change too, but I hated leaving my heart in Israel. Ima is and always has been my soul mate. We had one last night together before I had to leave. That night of passion and love produced you, Tali. You are a direct product of our love for each other," Tony wiped the tears away again.

Ziva picked up the story, "My heart broke when I watched Abba board the plane to DC. I had to use all of my Mossad training to keep from running after him. I had to let my mind overrule my heart; I needed to work through my demons alone. About six weeks after he left, I discovered that I was pregnant with you." Ziva wiped at her eyes and brushed her hand under her nose. Tali handed her Ima the box of tissues from the nightstand.

"Toda," Ziva took the tissues and handed the box to Tony. He wiped his eyes and nose as she continued telling Tali their story. "I did not want to disrupt your Abba's life after I had sent him away. For all I knew, he had moved on from me. Besides, I was still not in a good place in my mind. I still needed to work on me, and now I also had a new life growing inside me.

"The day you were born, Tali, was the best day of my life to that point. I was scared but also so filled with love when the doctor placed you in my arms. Being your Ima helped me heal my mind and most of all healed my heart to love unconditionally. I had the most wonderful gift from Abba; a part of him that lives in you.

"Some more bad things happened just before you turned two and I had to flee. I sent you to your Abba, knowing that he would love you as much as I did. It tore my heart to pieces to leave you, but it was for your safety, Tali." Ziva's tears fell freely. Tali watched as Abba brushed away her Ima's tears, and gently caressed her face. The love he showed on his face for Ima was so strong that Tali felt like she was intruding on a very private moment between her parents. When Ima raised her hands to wipe away Abba's tears, Tali started crying herself.

"Tali, I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on nearly two-year-old you. Your Ima had given me the most incredible gift. I quit my job at NCIS to be your Abba full-time. You and I journeyed to Israel and then to Paris. We waited for Ima to find us and while we waited, you and I got to know each other. When Ima finally came home to us, I promised that I would never let her leave us again; that I would be a part of her life for as long as she lived. We were finally a family," Tony blew his nose and blinked away the tears that fell. He looked over at his daughter; Tali had tears running down her cheeks. He looked at his wife, his soul mate. She squeezed his hand as they locked gazes yet again.

As one, they moved over on either side of Tali and wrapped her in an embrace.

"I love you, Tali," Tony whispered.

"Ani ohevet otach, yaldati," Ziva whispered.

"Toda. I am so glad we are a family; I love you both!" Tali reveled in the warmth of her parents' embrace. She felt so safe, so loved, so wanted…

Anthony walked to Tali's doorway as his parents moved to hug his sister. He watched quietly as the three shared a hug and tears. He had a feeling that he would also be in tears before the end of the evening. He hated to interrupt the moment of love, but he needed to let Abba know that his second in charge had called to tell Abba that she would not be at work the next day because of a family emergency.

"Abba," Anthony spoke quietly.

Tony, Ziva, and Tali looked up. Anthony could see the tear streaks on all of their faces. Whatever his parents had told his sister must be something major. He knew that Abba and Ima had promised to share with him and the others after they told Tali. Tony acknowledged his son with a nod.

"Dara called to let you know that she won't be at work tomorrow. Her mother was in a car accident," Anthony relayed the message from Abba's coworker. "She said she would call you again in the morning when she knew more."

"Thank you, Anthony. Where are the others?"

"Still watching TV in the family room, Abba."

"Let's all go into the family room, so that Ima and I can share what we just told you, Tali, with the others. Okay?" Ziva and Tali nodded and the four moved to the family room.

Tony grabbed the remote and turned off the TV to protests from the younger three kids. Their protests died away when they saw that Ima, Abba, and Tali had been crying. Tali was carrying a box of tissues.

Ziva explained, "We have something to share with all of you. We just answered Tali's questions from dinner time, and Abba and I feel that the rest of you should know the answers as well."

She and Tony took turns telling the story to the younger four. When they had finished, Tony asked if any of the kids had any questions. Anthony wiped at his eyes as he noticed that all of them were teary-eyed.

Tali spoke up first, "I'm glad that you and Ima made our family, Abba. I wouldn't trade this family for all the money in the world!"

LJ hugged Tali, then Abba, and finally Ima, "I love all of you!" The whole family moved into a group hug; family really is everything, Tali thought.

"We are DiNozzos," Tony started their family 'motto.'

"And DiNozzos stick together like Super-Glue!" they said as one, smiling through their tears.


	2. Anthony - August 2034

Chapter 2: Anthony – August 2034

"Shh," John pseudo-whispered to his cousin. "You're walkin' too loud."

"Say what?" Anthony tried to whisper in reply, but he felt as though he was shouting at his cousin.

"I can hear efry step you're takin'," John felt like he was in an amplifier; every sound was an assault on his ears.

Anthony stopped, "You don' hafta shout at me…" He felt another wave of nausea coming on and at down on the neighbor's lawn with his head between his knees. "Think I'm gonna puke…"

John sat down next to his cousin, but not too close. "If ya gotta barf, I'm outta here or I'll be heaving wi' ya."

Anthony held his head in his hands, "Whose idea was it to drink both the beer an' bourbon?"

"We shouldn't have snuck out either," John glanced at his phone. "Shit, it's 0400; Mom is gonna skin me alive!"

"Are your 'rents us-lly still asleep at this hour?' Anthony thought about his parents. Everyone, well just about everyone, knew that Ima and Abba were awake in the early morning hours for their private time. Even though they would be otherwise occupied, sneaking into the house would not be easy. Ima would hear any and every little sound.

"Yeah; we can prolly get inna my room without them hearin' us." John shrugged, "I'm glad you decided to take bikes insteada your truck or my car."

"Speakin' uh bikes, where'd we leave 'em?" Anthony wracked his brain trying to remember the last time he had the bike. Was it in the park or at the McGee house? He remembered riding to the house a bit after midnight, the 12-pack of beer in his backpack. John had another 12-pack of beer in his backpack when they headed to the park. They rode the bikes to the park near the McGee house to meet up with two of their friends from school. Trevor brought a third 12-pack of beer and Bill brought two bottles of bourbon and a two liter bottle of cola.

Over the next three hours, the four had each consumed eight or nine cans of beer each, all of the bourbon and most of the cola. Bill had also brought two boxes of saltine crackers which they finished off as well. Trevor had crawled home to his house across the street from the park around 0300, the first one to leave. Bill left at 0335, saying that he had better go before his dad got up and discovered him gone.

Anthony and John finished off another can of beer each and then tried to gather up the empty cans and bottles to put in the trash bins at the park. Neither of the cousins was too steady on his feet and they had started a giggle fit when Anthony had just about fallen on his face trying to pick up a beer can.

John nudged his cousin, "I thin' we left the bikes at the park. Better go back for 'em." They trudged back to the park, trying to be quiet and trying not to fall over each other. They found the bikes by the slide, and decided to climb up to slide down the slide. Both were giggling and struggling to climb up the steps. At the top, John belly-flopped and went down head first. Anthony heard him moaning the whole way down.

Anthony sat down at the top and leaned forward to slide down; he then laid back and went down on his back feet first. He tried to watch the sky, but the motion made him dizzy so he closed his eyes. At the bottom he landed on John, who was lying face down on the grass.

"Hey," John mumbled. "You tryin' to squish me?" He giggled and tried to roll Anthony off him.

"Nope, you in my way," Anthony replied, giggling with his cousin. "Where're the bikes?"

The two stood up, holding on to each other to steady themselves and made their way to the bikes. John picked up his bike and tried several times to throw his leg over the bar to ride. Anthony watched his cousin's unsuccessful attempts to get on the bike. "I thin' we shoul' walk the bikes," he decided.

"Good idea…" John agreed as he started walking towards home with the bike. Walking the bikes also gave each of them something to lean on as they stumbled to the McGee house. Once there, the two placed the bikes by the side of the garage behind John's car and moved over to the window to his room.

Anthony pushed his cousin from behind as John fell into the room from the window and started giggling again. He stood up and helped Anthony into the window, both trying unsuccessfully to suppress more giggles.

"What on earth are you doing?" Katie came through the shared bathroom and spotted her brother and boyfriend.

Anthony looked over, "Hello, be-you-full…" and moved to kiss his girl.

Katie backed up, "You stink of beer! Are you two drunk?"

John laughed at his cousin's clumsy attempts to kiss Katie before he replied to his twin, "Maybe we are an' maybe we aren't." He laughed more as Anthony pushed past Katie to the bathroom.

"John Anthony McGee, what the heck were you thinking? Did you sneak out with Anthony to get drunk?" Katie sounded so much like Mom that John had another fit of laughter. "I should go wake up Mom and Dad but I won't. You are going to owe me BIG time!"

"K; thanks," Anthony came up behind his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her. "I luf you," he nuzzled her neck and put soft kisses on her shoulder.

"Get a room," John giggled.

Katie took hold of Anthony's hands, partly to keep them from running over her body with her brother present, "Anthony, you are drunk. You and John need to sleep this off before Mom and Dad wake up. Go get in the bed NOW!" She pointed at John's bunkbeds and gently pushed both young men in the general direction of the beds.

Anthony face-planted on the lower bunk; John fell next to him. Katie sighed and removed her boyfriend's shoes and her brother's sneakers. She leaned over and put a kiss on Anthony's lips and he tried to pull her on top of him.

"Go to sleep!" She pulled away and shut the door to the room and the door to the bathroom on her way back to her room.

At 0920, Anthony awoke feeling as though someone had kicked him in the head. He rolled over and groaned. As his hand touched another body, he opened his eyes to see John looking just as miserable. John groaned as well and moved to get up to use the bathroom.

"Well, good morning!" Aunt Dee watched the two grimace.

John opened his eyes and saw both Mom and Aunt Ziva glaring at them. "Oh, damn!" He nudged Anthony. "Wake up, cuz, we are in deep shit!" John headed to the bathroom with his mother watching him.

"Wha?" Anthony sat up and noticed his Ima and Aunt Dee. "Oh, god, my head hurts…"

"Anthony D. DiNozzo, the third, just what the hell were you thinking?" Ima spoke softly but forcefully. Anthony knew the tone; Ima was so angry that she got quiet. This did not bode well for his day. "Abba is in the kitchen with Uncle Tim."

Anthony was about to answer his Ima when he felt the sudden urge to vomit. He made a bee-line for the bathroom and heaved into the sink. Ima was behind him, holding him up as he puked. She ran the water and grabbed a washcloth to wipe his face. Anthony looked up to see his Ima's face in the mirror, her eyes filled with concern for her son. He could also see the fire behind the concern. Hungover and facing the wrath of Ima was not what he had planned for today.

John meanwhile followed his mother to the kitchen. He looked around the table to see his Dad, Uncle Tony, and Grandpa watching him. Katie was sitting next to Grandpa trying not to make eye contact with her brother.

"Have a seat, young man," Tim pointed to an empty chair between him and Gibbs. John carefully sat down, trying to avoid aggravating his headache any further. The smell of Grandpa's coffee made his stomach churn. He tried not to look at anyone.

Ziva and Anthony appeared a few minutes later; "I think he has emptied his stomach finally." Ziva sat a chair away from Tony and motioned for Anthony to sit between his parents.

John and Anthony looked at each other, sharing a miserable half-grin. Neither one wanted to look at his parents or at Grandpa. All of them sat in silence as the adults watched the cousins. Finally, after the two young men shifted uncomfortably and groaned a few times each, Grandpa spoke.

"I'm disappointed." Both John and Anthony hung their heads. Although Grandpa had only said two words, the words he did say stung. They had let Grandpa, and their parents, down.

"Sorry, Grandpa," both mumbled.

Delilah spoke next, "What were you thinking? Three whole cases of beer and two bottles of bourbon? We have the evidence because Trevor's father called earlier. You could have ended up in the hospital!"

"How did you get the beer?" Tony spoke to both boys. Anthony could tell by how calmly his Abba spoke that he was really pissed. He glanced up at his father and saw that Abba had his lips pressed together and a fire in his eyes that matched Ima's.

John looked at his cousin, and Anthony replied. "We each got a case at the Stop-In convenience store by the school. Jeff doesn't card the football or basketball players. Bill brought the bourbon and Trevor got his own beer case."

Tim took a deep breath in, and then asked the boys, "How much did you each drink?"

"We split it pretty evenly; nine cans of beer each and half a bottle of bourbon," John responded. "We ate some crackers as we drank, because Bill said that his older brother told him that eating saltines keeps you from getting too drunk."

Anthony nodded as his cousin spoke, and then held his head in his hands. Nodding had aggravated his headache. "We were there from about 0030 to 0400," he added. "We pretty much drank the whole time. In our defense, we rode our bikes instead of driving."

Grandpa looked at each of them, "That was the only smart thing you did!"

"Agreed," Tony was livid, but held back, speaking in a calm manner. "Anthony, what made you decide that drinking was a good idea? Why? You've been allowed to sip the wine when we do the rituals on holidays; we've let you taste the beer and other alcohol, so it's not about trying it for the first time. You saw the car from the DUI wreck that killed the two players from Woodbridge High. Explain to me why you felt a need to get drunk, please."

Anthony glanced at his father; Abba was way too calm which was not a good sign. Abba got very calm just before he exploded when he was extremely angry. Ima got very quiet when she was really pissed. He realized that his mother had said very little since they had come into the kitchen. He looked down at the table and held his head in his hands. He was about to respond to his father when John suddenly made a dash for the half bath in the hallway.

Delilah motioned for Tim to follow their son. The others could hear him heaving despite the closed door. Tim slid into the bathroom to help John. He held him over the toilet as he emptied his insides. Tim took the towel off the rack and dampened a corner of it in the sink. He wiped John's face and mouth, hoping the teen had some comfort from the cool cloth.

In the kitchen, Anthony thought about how he would reply to Abba's question. There really wasn't any good reason he could come up with, nor could he even think of an excuse for his behavior. "Abba, Ima, Grandpa, Aunt Dee… I'm really sorry to let you all down. It was a stupid move on our parts to drink that much. If this is what a hangover is like, I've learned my lesson. I feel like crap; especially my head and gut." He hung his head, not making eye contact with any of them. "And, Katie, I'm such a jerk. You're probably pissed at me too. I am so sorry…"

Tim and John returned as Anthony was addressing Katie. John sat back between his Dad and Grandpa. "Dad, Grandpa, Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't think before acting stupid. Sis, I owe you an apology for expecting you to cover for me. Like Anthony said, I feel like someone kicked me in the head and my gut is churning. I don't ever want to feel like this again."

John looked at each of the adults as he spoke, and finally at his sister. His head was pounding and his gut felt awful; he'd rather be kicked in the gut than this feeling. Finally, he looked at his cousin, "Anthony, I'm sorry. We were stupid; I guess we deserve whatever punishment we get."

Anthony met his cousin's gaze and nodded, "Yeah, I'm sorry, John. I shouldn't have suggested that we buy the beer at Stop-In. Dumb, dumb, dumb…"

"I hope you boys remember the way you feel now the next time that you even think about drinking," Grandpa looked at each one. "And, Anthony, the reason that I am even here is that your parents didn't know where you were when Trevor's father called them. I came out to help them look for you. I spotted your bike when I drove past here on the way to your house."

"Oh, god, Ima, Abba…" Anthony started crying thinking about how worried his parents must have been when they couldn't find him. He put his head down on his arms on the table and groaned. "I am an idiot…"

Ziva put her hand on her son's back, rubbing in circles. "Anthony, I will always love you, motek. Right now I am very angry with your behavior of earlier today, but I still love you."

Anthony sat up and wrapped his arms around his Ima, putting his head on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Ima; I love you too. Abba, I'm sorry for worrying you." He sobbed as Ziva held her son.

Tony and Tim talked quietly together while Anthony composed himself. Gibbs got up and poured more coffee for everyone and put a mug in front of both teens. "Drink the coffee; it'll help with the headache and hangover."

"Thanks, Grandpa," John took his mug and sipped.

"K; thanks, Grandpa," Anthony sniffled.

Tony and Tim sat back at the table. Tony spoke first, "We have decided part of your punishment should be jointly. You will go to the park and clean up the remnants of your drinking party and leave no sign of the alcohol anywhere in the park. Grandpa will supervise you. Anthony, we will discuss your punishment further at home."

"John, when you get back from the park clean-up, Mom and I will be discussing your punishment with you," Tim added. He looked at his daughter, "Katie, you aren't off the hook, but you are nowhere near as guilty as the boys. While John and Anthony are cleaning up, we will discuss your role in all of this. Understood?"

John and Katie nodded, "Yes, Dad."

Anthony and John followed Gibbs to the park, each boy carrying two large trash bags. Tony and Ziva stayed in the McGee kitchen to wait for Anthony to return. Ziva called Rivka's cell phone to let the younger kids know that they were still at the McGee house and would be home soon with Anthony.

Tim, Dee, and Katie moved into Tim's home office to continue their discussion. Katie acknowledged her part in hiding the fact that John and Anthony had crawled in the window of John's room, drunk, at 0435. The three agreed that grounding for the weekend was suitable punishment and went back to the kitchen to wait with Tony and Ziva for the boys and Gibbs to return.

When the three came back with the filled bags of trash, Gibbs suggested that Katie come help him with some work at his house. She nodded and they left as Tony, Ziva, and Anthony climbed into Tony's truck. Tony had put Anthony's bicycle in the back. The three were silent on the ride home; Anthony stewed and wondered how bad his punishment would be. He could see that both Ima and Abba were still quite angry; both had their lips pressed together. His parents had their conversation on the way home with their eyes and gestures.

Once home, Ziva took Anthony's cell phone, "Go start your laundry chores while Abba and I discuss this in private. We will notify you when we are ready to talk with you." He nodded and trudged off to gather the towels and sheets for washing as well as his own dirty clothes. As he moved around the house, he could see Rivka cleaning the bathrooms, her chore for this Saturday; Beth vacuuming; and LJ outside mowing the lawn. He wished that Ima hadn't taken his phone; he really wanted to talk to Tali.

After what seemed to be hours, but was really less than an hour, Anthony heard a knock on his bedroom door. He turned to see Ima and Abba in the doorway.

"Come on in; whatever you have decided is my punishment is okay with me," he said dejectedly. "I deserve every bit of it."

Tony drew his son into a hug, "I love you, Anthony. You did something pretty stupid this morning, but I love you no matter what."

"Thanks, Abba," Anthony wiped tears from his eyes as his father released the hug. Ima stepped over and hugged her boy.

"Anthony, I love you no matter what. That will never change motek." Ziva brushed away a tear from his cheek. "What do you think would be an appropriate punishment?"

Anthony sat on his bed as his parents sat on the chairs in his room. "I… I don't know. I guess I would think grounding for a month; no driving for a month; no phone for the weekend… " He looked at Ima and then at Abba. Neither one spoke, so he continued, "Show all receipts for what I buy for the next month to prove I didn't buy any more beer; apologize to you both again… Make sure that I tell you when I am going somewhere and when I expect to be back…"

Ziva interrupted, "That is harsher than we came up with, but I think we can work with what you suggested. The main thing is that you learned from this."

Anthony nodded, "Believe me; I learned that I don't want to be hungover like this ever again. My head is still pounding and my gut is still queasy. The coffee helped some, but feeling this crappy is no fun at all. I made an ass of myself to Katie; my love. I hope she forgives me…"

"She will," Tony winked at his son. "Your soul mate has that way of forgiving your stupidity." He looked at Ziva as he spoke; Anthony could see them communicating with their eyes. "Besides, if you ever scare us like that again, Ima knows eighteen ways to kill you with this paperclip." He picked up a paperclip from Anthony's desk and held it up. Ziva glared at him and moved to take the paperclip from Tony's hand. He jerked his hand back.

That broke the tension in the air and all three laughed, and shared a group hug.

John's punishment was similar to Anthony's; both had learned a valuable lesson that day. When the school year started and both had to ride the bus for the first two weeks, they had to explain to their friends what happened. Together, they impressed upon their peers that getting that drunk was not a good choice. Neither one would do that bonehead move again!


	3. Rivka - November 2036

Chapter 3: Rivka – November 2036

"Hey love!" John spotted his girlfriend at baggage claim and nearly ran over to swoop her up into a hug and kiss her. "I've missed you so much!" He was home for the Thanksgiving holidays from Atlanta. His first term at Georgia Tech was going well, except for missing his soul mate.

"Oh, John, I love you," Rivka returned his kisses and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. Her junior year of high school and first term as a joint-enrollment student at the community college had kept her busy, but she missed having John around every day. They had Skyped almost every evening, but she missed his physical presence.

"Let me find my bag and then we can head home," John searched the baggage carousel for his distinctive yellow and black large duffel and quickly spotted it. As the bag came around, he snagged the handles. Rivka took John's backpack that he had carried on, and the couple held hands as they walked to Rivka's car.

"We have either house to ourselves for the whole weekend," Riv breathed into John's kiss after they put the bags in the back seat. "Ima and Abba are in New York with your parents until Sunday night; Beth went with Aunt Breena to pick up Charles at Gannon, Katie and Anthony are staying in Ohio for the holiday, and LJ went to Grandpa's for the weekend. They're doing some big woodworking project."

"And just what did you have in mind for our weekend, sweetheart?" John pulled her against him and kissed her again. She pressed her hips against his feeling his reaction. "Are you sure?"

Riv nodded, "Yes. Let's get going so we have as much time as we can…" She handed John her keys to let him drive. The couple held hands all the way to the DiNozzo house. John drove there figuring Rivka's car would belong there and not draw any attention from nosy neighbors as it would at his parents' house. They could always move between houses anyhow, since the two homes were about ten minutes apart.

Inside Rivka led John to her room. She kissed him and they began tugging at each other's clothes. Both of them wanted this, even though when they had started dating two years and eight months ago, they had pledged to wait until both had completed high school.

"Are you sure, Riv? You can say stop at any time if you want," John wanted to make sure she was ready.

"I want this, John. I want you to make love to me," she breathed into a kiss. "We're ready for this step, love. We don't need to stay virgins. I'm on the pill…"

"Oh, Riv, I love you so much," John peeled off his girlfriend's bra and gazed at her nearly naked body. 'You're beautiful…" He kissed down her neck and to her breasts, lowering her onto the bed. She slid her hand to the waistband of his underwear.

"So are you," she whispered as she tugged his underwear down his legs. "Oh, that feels so good…" she moaned as he entered her.

"Let me know if it hurts you; I want to be gentle for our first time…" The real thing was even better than his fantasies. "Oh, love…"

The pair lay side by side cuddling afterward. John placed gentle kisses on Riv's body. She caressed his face, neck, and chest. "I love you, John Anthony McGee…"

"And I love you, Rivka Abigail DiNozzo," he replied. He moved to the edge of the bed and sat up. She looked at him with a question in her eyes. He moved to his backpack and unzipped the top pocket. "I was going to give this to you for Christmas, but I want you to have it now." He returned to the bed and pulled her to a sitting position.

'Rivka, I love you with all of my heart, will you promise to be my better half for always?" John opened the small box in his hand and showed her the promise ring.

"Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" Riv tried to hold back her tears, but they slid down her cheeks. "I love you so much, John." He slipped the ring on her left ring finger and drew her into a kiss. She looked at the ring; a simple band of yellow gold with each of their birthstones side by side. "It's beautiful!"

Rivka sat on the edge of the bed and stood up. She walked over to her desk and opened the bottom drawer. "I got this for you; it was supposed to be for Christmas, but I think you should have it now." She handed him the small jeweler's box and watched as he opened it.

The black ring band had embedded bands of purple and turquoise, their birthstone colors. John handed the box to his girlfriend and held out his left hand. She slipped the ring onto his ring finger. "I promise to love you forever, John."

"I'm yours for as long as we live, my love," John wiped a tear from his eye and fused his lips on hers. When the couple broke for air, he quipped, "I guess we are now officially pre-engaged!"

"Whatever you want to call it, I am fully committed to you," Riv smiled at her boyfriend. His stomach rumbled as she ran a hand over his face. She grinned at him. "Let's go get some lunch."

"Better put on some clothes, just in case LJ and Grandpa show up here," John suggested. "How about a quick shower, get decent, and get some lunch?"

"Works for me!" Riv moved to the bathroom she shared with her twin and started the water for the shower. The couple used the soapy water and hands to explore each other's bodies; their first shower together would be one they'd remember.

When they dried each other off, John took a pair of sleep pants out of his bag and slid them on. Riv found a nightshirt that covered down to her mid-thighs and slipped it over her head and pulled on a pair of sleep shorts under it.

In the kitchen, the pair found leftover lasagna in the fridge to heat up for lunch. John made a salad for two from the greens and other vegetables he found in the crisper drawer. Rivka took some premade garlic knots out of the freezer and heated those in the toaster oven.

As the couple sat side by side at the table in the breakfast nook to eat the meal, John commented on how domestic they were at the moment. He grinned at his better half.

"I could get used to this," Riv commented. "Less than two years from now, we will be together every day again, hopefully in our apartment near the Tech campus!"

"Me, too," John leaned in and kissed her. They broke apart when Riv's phone chimed for an incoming text message. She picked up her phone and looked at the screen.

"Ima," she noted. She swiped the screen and opened the message.

_'Lasagna in fridge; multiple frozen meals in small freezer. Hope John arrived safely. Ima' _she read the message out loud.

"Tell her the lasagna is fantastic!"

Rivka typed a reply to her mother, '_John says lasagna is fantastic. Hope you are having lots of fun'_

The incoming text message alert chimed again; this time her mother sent a picture of the four parents in front of the theater where they were just about to go see a matinee of a Broadway play. She showed the picture to John.

"We should thank them for leaving us the house for the weekend," she grinned at her better half.

"Don't you dare!"

"I was kidding, John. If I sent that message, Abba would make record time getting back here!"

The pair finished their meal and cleaned up the kitchen. John suggested that they watch a movie or play an Xbox game. Riv chose the game and they played one of their favorite online games for the next three hours. When the couple took a break, they enjoyed each other and made love on the family room floor.

As darkness fell, Rivka started making dinner for the two. John found two frozen beef stew dinners in the freezer. Knowing how much he liked Aunt Ziva's stew, he suggested that for dinner. Rivka placed some frozen dinner rolls on a pan and baked them in the oven to have with the stew.

After dinner, John put one of their favorite action movies in the Blu-Ray player and the couple cuddled on the sofa. Riv climbed into John's lap and rubbed against him.

"Again?" he asked.

"I like this," she purred into his ear. "It feels so good." Afterward, they cuddled and watched the end of the movie and then went to Rivka's room for bed. One more round of lovemaking before they fell asleep in a tangle of limbs; they slept cuddled into each other.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday; the only difference was that Grandpa invited the two over for dinner, so they didn't have to cook or reheat anything. John thought Grandpa was probably checking up on them. They left their rings on and of course both Grandpa and LJ noticed.

"They're promise rings, Grandpa," John explained. "We are promising to be true to each other while we are apart and to be each other's one and only."

Rivka added, "And we are promising our love to the other. We are also promising to be together for always. Some people call it 'pre-engagement'."

Grandpa didn't say much, but both felt him watching them the whole time they were at his house. LJ congratulated his sister and cousin. He knew they considered themselves soul mates.

After dessert, the young people said good night to Grandpa and LJ. LJ was planning to stay two more nights at Grandpa's house so they could finish their project. John drove back to the DiNozzo house. They went inside and watched another movie, then went to Rivka's room to gather John's things into his duffel and backpack. They got distracted by each other and fell asleep afterwards wrapped together.

Tim pulled into the DiNozzo driveway at 2245. They had encountered a lot more traffic than they expected and ended up stopping for a snack just south of Baltimore. Tony grabbed his and Ziva's shared suitcase as she and Delilah were talking. He took the bag inside, and went back out for the garment bags with his suit and tux and with Ziva's dresses. Tim carried the DiNozzos' cooler inside behind Tony as Dee and Ziva trailed behind. Ziva was going to download her pictures to a flash drive for Dee.

Tony noticed a light coming from Rivka's room when he peeked down the hallway to the kids' bedrooms. He figured she was still awake so he walked to her door. What he saw when he looked in her room caused him to yell.

"RIVKA ABIGAIL DINOZZO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Ziva, Tim and Dee rushed to the hall for the kids' rooms as they heard Tony. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Ziva reached the doorway first and looked inside, "Wha…" She stopped mid-sentence at the sight before her. Rivka and John were naked as the day they were born, in a tangle of limbs on her bed. Tony was trying to find something to toss to them to get covered up.

"Tony, stop shouting. You know what they are doing; we have five kids after all," Ziva put a hand on her husband's arm. "The QUESTION IS WHY?" this she directed at the two on the bed. Tony found John's sleep pants and a robe that he thought was his daughter's and tossed the clothing at the pair.

"Get decent!" He turned to Ziva and locked gazes with her.

Tim stood open-mouthed as Dee rolled up behind the others. He looked at the ceiling while the two covered up.

"Oh…" she tried not to look at the kids to give them some privacy to cover up.

"Um, we, um," Tim was at a loss for words. Dee took his hand and tugged to get him to look at her.

"Tim, focus," she spoke softly.

Tony turned to his daughter, "What are you thinking? You're just sixteen!" That's when he noticed the rings on their left hands. "Oh, god, NO!" He pointed to his own wedding ring to show Ziva what he had noticed.

"Almost seventeen," Rivka replied. Tony glared at her.

Ziva got really quiet when she walked over to the couple. She picked up each of their left hands and looked at the rings. Neither John nor Rivka would look her in the eyes.

Tim watched Ziva and noticed the two rings; he groaned and turned to John, "What? Why?"

"Dad, we love each other; they're promise rings."

"I think we need to talk about this at home," Dee interjected.

"NO!" John looked his mother in the eyes and then at his father. He stood up and looked at Uncle Tony. "Riv and I will talk to you all, but we are going to do it TOGETHER.'

Ziva pressed her lips together; Rivka noticed her mother's typical angry look. She was already quiet, which was not a good sign. Abba looked about ready to explode.

"Ima? Abba?" She looked from one to the other. "I should tell you that I'm on birth control; the pill."

"WHAT?" Tony sputtered. "Zi, did you know about this?"

"No, I did not."

"Tali took me to the campus women's clinic last month," Rivka explained.

Tony took a deep breath in and then exhaled it. He repeated the action and counted to twenty before speaking again. "Put some clothes on and we will ALL talk in the family room, not in your love nest." He turned and walked out of the room with Tim and Dee following him.

Ziva glared at both teens and then followed the others to the family room.

"Tables are turned, huh, bro?" Tony spoke to Tim as they waited for John and Rivka. "My daughter, your son this time!"

Tim just shook his head. John and Rivka came into the room in sweats, holding hands. They sat side by side on the sofa as their parents watched.

John spoke first, "I bought the ring last week. I was going to give it to Riv for Christmas. I brought it home so I could keep it safe in my room here. It just felt right to give it to her last night after our first time together."

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but shut it as Ziva laid a hand on his arm. "Let them tell us their side first," she said to his look at her. He nodded and turned back to the teens.

"I got the ring for John a few weeks ago. Like John, I was going to give it for Christmas, but last night just happened. It was meant to be." Rivka looked at her parents. "We love each other and we know that we are going to be together. One day we'll be married, but we have a plan that includes getting our educations first."

"Yeah, that is something we've talked about over the past month or so," John added.

Tim looked at the pair, "You're so young; eighteen and sixteen…"

"Almost nineteen and seventeen," Rivka interrupted.

"Still, you are just teens," Tim continued. "Rivka, I'm sure your Abba is going to agree with me; you are too young to be sexually active."

Tony nodded, "SIXTEEN!" He looked at his daughter. "I don't know what to say…" He looked to Ziva who was quietly watching and listening to the conversation. He squeezed her hand. "Any time you want to help me out here, Zi…"

"I'm not going to try to stop you, but please be responsible. You don't want any surprises. Rivka, taking the pill is a good step; I told Katie the same thing," Dee spoke up and looked to Ziva.

"I agree with Dee. I wish you had come to me instead of going to Tali, but at least you did get on birth control," Ziva spoke quietly. Both Tony and Rivka knew that she was still quite angry and upset by her lack of volume.

Tony let out a sigh, "I don't like it, but I agree with Dee and Ziva; we can't stop you. Please, please be responsible and remember you have your whole lives ahead of you. Finish your educations before you get into thinking that you want to start a family. Good grief, what am I saying?"

"Abba, that is the last thing we want right now! That's why I went on the pill," Rivka held John's hand as she spoke. "We've talked about this on Skype a lot over the past two months."

"It's midnight; I think we should all go to bed and talk some more after a night's sleep," Dee suggested.

"Good idea," Tony and Tim said together. Ziva nodded her agreement.

"So can John spend the night?" Riv joked. All four parents looked at her as if she had three heads. Tony's look had his daughter laughing. Soon she was joined by the others as each of them glanced at Tony's face. Ziva turned him to look at her with her hand on his cheek.

"Do not freeze with that face, Tony." He finally started laughing with the rest of them. Now to survive the teen years with the three youngest DiNozzos!


	4. Beth - July 2035

Chapter 4: Beth – July 2035

Fifteen year old Beth slowly raised the window in the bedroom that she used to share with her twin. When Tali moved into her own apartment, Rivka had taken Tali's old room and the twins had their own rooms. She carefully removed the screen and climbed out of the window. She lowered the glass panel and slipped the screen back into place with the help of her boyfriend. Seventeen year old Charles put her backpack strap over his shoulder and Beth adjusted the fanny pack around her waist. He took her hand and the two moved along the hedge line to the street.

Both were wearing black jeans and hoodies despite the warm summer night. As the couple neared the street, Beth noticed that her older brother's truck wasn't in the driveway. She glanced at her cell phone; 0430. Anthony was usually home by midnight; she wondered where he might be, but then decided to say nothing since she was supposed to be inside asleep.

"Hey, where's your brother's truck?" Charles whispered.

"Dunno, but if we see headlights, be ready to get behind something," Beth replied. "How far away did you park your car?"

"It's at the park by John and Katie's house." The two walked in silence, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. When they passed the McGee house, Charles pointed out Anthony's truck in front of the house two doors down. "Guess we know where your brother is."

Just as Beth was about to reply, someone moved in the shadows by the McGee house. Charles and Beth crouched behind a trash can at the house across the street and watched as Anthony made his way across the yards to his truck. As he drove off, Charles grinned at his girlfriend.

"We're not the only ones sneaking in or out of your house! Bet you money Anthony snuck out of Katie's window after spending the night with her," he whispered.

Beth nodded, "That's why Riv has heard him climbing into his window just before sunrise! He is probably taking advantage of the fact that Ima and Abba are otherwise occupied at this time of the morning and won't hear him climbing in his window."

They continued on to Charles' parked car at the park. Once they were on the road to the concert in Hershey, PA, Beth pulled the energy drinks and sandwiches out of her backpack. She unwrapped a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and handed it to her boyfriend. She opened one of the energy drinks and put it into the drink holder on his side of the console. She took out a sandwich and drink for herself and settled back in the seat.

"You have the tickets, right?" Charles asked between bites.

"Yep, printed them out last night and put them in my fanny pack," Beth unzipped the pocket and showed him the folded tickets. This concert was a once in a lifetime experience as far as the two teens were concerned. It was billed as a 'Battle of the Bands' and included four of their favorite current groups on the stages. In all there were fifteen acts over the course of the day; music started at 0800 and lasted until midnight. They planned to get to Hershey Park around 0700, hoping the parking lines wouldn't be too awful.

Charles had double-checked that he had his bank card, $350 cash, and his drivers' license in his wallet the night before. Beth had her bank card, $200 cash, and a state-issued ID, plus her father's business card tucked in her fanny pack with the tickets.

The only thing the two did not have was their parents' permission to go to the day-long event. Both had left notes on their beds for parents to find to explain where they had gone. Charles didn't expect to hear from his Mom and Dad, since Mom had four funerals scheduled today, and Dad had gone out about 0130 on a case with Uncle Tim's team.

Beth told her twin what she and her boyfriend were planning, and left a note for Ima and Abba. Rivka had tried to talk her sister out of sneaking out, but Beth turned a deaf ear to her twin. Riv wasn't her boss, her parent, or her conscience. She was just jealous that she and John hadn't thought of going as well.

Charles commented on the light traffic on the interstates as he made the left exit onto I-695 south of Baltimore. Their next exit was I-83 north on the other side of town. They were making good time so far.

The sun came up as they hit I-83 northbound. The forecast was for a sunny and pleasant day. Both teens had dressed in layers so that they could remove clothing as the day warmed up. Charles remembered to pack sunscreen in his backpack; he burned easily. He also had a hat with a wide brim and sunglasses to help protect his skin from the sun. Beth had a hat and sunglasses, but she never usually burned. She figured that her Israeli heritage contributed to her slightly less sun-sensitive skin.

At 0653, they turned into the entrance to Hershey Park and quickly found themselves in a line of cars waiting to park. Charles handed the gate person a twenty dollar bill for the all-day parking pass. He handed the pass to Beth as he maneuvered into a parking space. She hung the pass from the mirror as he turned the engine off. She looked at the map they'd been handed as they entered the parking.

"Looks like we can take a tram or walk to the concert venue. We're here," she pointed to a large 'P' on the map. "Here's the tram stop; and here's the concert area," she pointed out each on the map. The couple gathered their things and headed to the tram stop. There were about thirty others waiting for the tram. After a ten minute wait, the multi-sectioned tram stopped at the shelter.

They climbed into an open section of the tram and sat side by side, watching the various sections of the park pass by. Beth spotted the entrance to the zoo and nudged her boyfriend.

"Remember that summer we came here with Grandpa when he had all of us at his cabin?"

"Yeah, that seems so long ago. Eight years ago, I think."

"Yep; and now Tali is living in her own place; Tori just got married and living overseas with Jared; and Anthony is about to go off to Ohio State. That's more than half my life ago!" Beth commented.

When the tram let the concert-goers off at the stadium, Beth pulled the two tickets out of her fanny pack. She handed them to the woman behind the ticket counter. The woman handed her back two bright, hot pink plastic bracelets to show that the couple had all day access to the concerts. Beth snapped Charles' bracelet on his right wrist and then held out her arm for him to secure hers in place.

"Let's go find our seats!" They followed the crowds into the stadium and found the tunnel for their section. "Section D, row 12, seats K and L," Charles read out from his wristband. They quickly found row 12 and then their seats. Beth sat down and looked towards the stage; they had a pretty great view of things and she hoped they would have great sound as well.

The pair settled in as the seats around them began filling with eager concert-goers. An announcer came on a side stage and welcomed everyone and an opener band set up to play on the main stage. Drones hovered over the crowd and stage feeding to large TV screens set up around the stadium. Charles grabbed Beth's hand and pointed to a screen. There they were larger than life on the screen; both waved and laughed when others near them also realized that their section was on the giant TV.

Beth took out her phone and snapped a picture of the screen. She noticed a missed call from Riv, but chose to ignore it. She double-checked that her phone was in silent mode and slipped it into her fanny pack. No way was her 'goody two-shoes' sister going to ruin her fun today. Charles took a selfie of the couple with his phone just as the music started.

During a transition in bands about an hour and one half later, Charles went in search of food. He returned with nachos, hot dogs and a huge lemonade that Beth swore was at least two liters. While he was waiting for the food, he posted the selfie on his social media account, not thinking that parents might see it.

Back in Virginia, Breena headed to work, figuring that Charles and Beth had gone to the school picnic for the day, so she didn't check his room. She left a note for her husband and son letting them know she would be home around 2000. Jimmy dragged himself home about 1000 and fell asleep within ten minutes of arriving home.

At the DiNozzo house, Ziva prepared cinnamon rolls for the family and left them on the counter for each one to have when he or she awoke. She and Tony headed out to the Arts Center with LJ for the Summer Art Show judging and awards ceremony. Rivka purposely waited until her parents left before leaving her room to get breakfast. She and John were going to be helping at a booth at the elementary school carnival. He was picking her up about 1000 so they could set up for the 1100 opening time. The fair ran until 1800, so the pair planned to be out all day. Anthony and Katie were headed to Kings Dominion for the day with her parents.

About 1230, Tony checked his phone and browsed his social media accounts. He did a double-take when he spotted the picture posted by Charles about two hours earlier. He nudged Ziva, who was listening to one of the artists explain his work.

"Zi," he nudged her again. "Zi!"

"What, Tony?"

"Um, look what I found," he showed her the picture Charles had posted. "Does that say 'Hershey, PA' as the location?"

Ziva grabbed the phone from his hand and zoomed in on the picture. "It does; she is in so much trouble! They had to leave before sun-up to get there."

Tony nodded, "It was posted at 1040. I'm calling Jimmy and Breena to see if they know where their son is!"

"Call Jimmy; Breena is working today," Ziva suggested. "I'm calling Rivka."

Tony took his phone back from his wife and pulled up Jimmy's contact information. He hit call and waited. Ziva took out her phone and hit the speed dial key for Rivka.

"Rivka, this is Ima; do you know where your sister is today? Call me back as soon as you get a chance." Ziva left the voice message and scowled, remembering that Riv and John were working at the carnival.

"Jimmy, it's Tony. Call me as soon as you get this message. Do you know where your son and, by extension, my daughter are today? It's important!" Tony looked at Ziva; "Left a message for the Gremlin."

"I left a message for Riv; she and John are working at the elementary school carnival today, so we may not hear back from her for a while," Ziva explained. "I am going to call Beth." She tapped her phone screen and put the phone to her ear.

"Elizabeth DiNozzo; call your Ima or Abba as soon as possible," Ziva left a message on Beth's voice-mail. She punched the call end button a little too fiercely.

Tony put his hand over his wife's. "Easy ninja; they could have photo-shopped that pic," he cautioned his wife about making assumptions.

"And how likely is that, Tony?"

"Okay, not very likely, but let's give the mini-ninja a chance to explain."

The couple moved over to LJ's exhibit of works for the show. He had several water color paintings of flowers and landscapes, three acrylic paintings of DC landmarks, and a portrait in charcoal of his grandfather on display. He was sitting at an easel working on a seascape that looked to Ziva to be the Haifa beaches. She was about to say something to him when Tony's phone rang.

"Jimmy," he told her as he answered the call. "Hey, Jimmy."

"I looked in Charles' room and he left a note that said that he and Beth went to an all day concert in Hershey, PA," Jimmy blurted out what he knew.

"Did he ask permission from you or Breena?"

"Not that I know of, but I had an 0130 call out with Tim's team, so I don't know for sure what he and Breena might have talked about," Jimmy yawned as he spoke.

"My sympathy; I don't miss that part at all!" Tony empathized. "They had to have left very early this morning, since your son posted a selfie about 1030 this morning from Hershey."

"Oh?"

"I'll get Ziva to forward it to your phone. Beth said nothing to us about this at all. We're at the Art Show with LJ, but I'm going to head home to see if my daughter left any note. Thanks, Jimmy." Tony ended the call and Ziva nodded at him to go back to the house.

"I'll let you know if I find anything, Zi. Let me know if her sister calls you back," Tony gave his wife a quick kiss and headed to the van. He was just pulling in the driveway when his phone rang again.

"Hey, Riv; do you know where your sister went today?" Tony tried to hide the concern in his voice.

Rivka swallowed hard, "Abba, don't get angry, please. That's why I called you and not Ima…"

"Well?" Tony tried to stay calm as he unlocked the door and continued the conversation.

"She and Charles left about 0430 to go to Hershey for an all day concert, Abba," Riv knew better than to even try to lie to her parents. "I tried to talk her out of it…"

"Okay, thank you for telling me NOW," Tony tried to hide his sarcasm. He entered Beth's room as he spoke and saw the folded paper on her bed. He strode over to the bed and picked up the paper, unfolding it with a shake of his wrist. "We will talk more tonight at home, young lady."

"Yes, Abba; don't tell Ima yet, please?"

"No promises; she has to know!" Tony ended the call and read the note.

_'Abba and Ima; please don't get mad. Charles and I went to a battle of the bands concert in Hershey, PA. It starts at 0800 and ends at midnight. We will come straight home when it is over, I promise. You did tell us to have fun this summer. B'_

Tony started counting backwards from one hundred to calm himself down. Exploding in anger was not the way to deal with this and all it would get him would be a hurt fist or worse if he punched the wall like he really wanted to. He took a deep breath and sent a text to Ziva.

'_Will be there to pick you up in ten.'_

He headed back to the Arts Center, trying to keep himself calm by deep breathing. He and Ziva had practiced the technique for the childbirth classes so long ago, and he had found it quite useful when his temper threatened to get the best of him. How ironic that the breathing exercises that helped his wife bring these kids into the world also calmed him when they pulled stunts like the current one.

Ziva was waiting by the entrance when he pulled up to the Arts Center. "LJ is still inside; he is here until 1800 when the awards are announced. What did you find?" she climbed in the passenger side of the van and could tell with a single look how angry Tony was. He handed her Beth's note and parked away from the building.

He watched her facial reactions as she read the note; seeing the same anger building as in him.

"Well!" Ziva put the note on her lap and stared out the window in front of her. Tony waited to tell her the rest of what he had learned; he knew when she had that certain look in her eyes not to say anything.

Ziva checked her phone, "Nothing from either of the girls."

"Riv called me," Tony began.

"Oh?" Ziva raised an eyebrow; knowing full well the call to her father had been a deliberate act on their middle child's part. "What did she say?"

"Beth told her sister last night that she and Charles were leaving at 0430 to go to Hershey to the concert. Riv claims she tried to talk Beth out of going," Tony sighed. Every gray hair on his head was earned from having teenagers in the house. This one seemed to be the most rebellious of them all. Quiet, follower Beth; never in trouble until she hit fourteen and then it was as if she was making up for lost years.

"She is going to be the death of us!" Ziva groaned. "What happened to the sweet, easy-going little girl?"

"She IS a DiNozzo…" Tony lamented. "She comes by it honestly."

"So what do we do? Going after her does not guarantee that we will find her and Charles. It also ruins LJ's day that we had planned to spend with him. She has to know we would be upset and angry!" Ziva was thinking out loud. "Just waiting until she comes home seems wrong…"

Tony shook his head, 'I don't know, Zi. I think we both earned a bunch more gray hairs today." He gave her a small smile at his attempt at humor to lighten the mood.

"I brought her into the world, I can take her out," Ziva quipped. "I never understood those memes until our kids became teens!" She put her hand on Tony's and sighed.

"Let's go see what LJ is up to; I hate to ruin his day," Tony suggested. The couple went inside to find their youngest engaged in a discussion with one of the judges on his techniques and how he composed a painting.

"I'm so proud of him; not quite fourteen and he's running with the big dogs," Tony grinned at Ziva and anyone who would listen to his bragging on his boy.

In Hershey, Beth and Charles were dancing, screaming, singing, and having a blast with the thousands of others at the concert. They had consumed the nachos and hot dogs, and found pizza and ice cream at other vendors in the arena. The lemonade was long gone, although prompting a run to the restrooms, and each had a refillable soft drink container that had a strap to hang around their necks. Charles was nearly hoarse from yelling and singing. Beth made sure he had on sunscreen as the day progressed.

Three of the four bands that the couple wanted to see had performed by 1900. The final one was scheduled for 2100. Beth had checked her phone several times during the day and only had two missed calls; one from Ima about 1300 and another from her twin at about 1820. Charles had a single missed call from his Dad about 1400. Neither one thought much about the lack of calls until much later in the day.

As their favorite band was setting up to begin performing at 2100, Beth commented on the lack of calls from her parents. "It didn't bother me until now; only one call from Ima and none from Abba. Obviously they know I'm not there, but I expected them to light up my messages."

Charles got pensive, "You know, my Dad only called once. Mom hasn't called at all. You think they are coming after us?"

"I don't know; let me check Riv's message. She'd give me a heads up if they were heading this way." Beth pulled up her voice mail app and listened to her sister's message.

'_Abba and Ima know where you are; I'm at home waiting for them to decide my punishment for not telling on you. They WILL be waiting up for you to get home. Be prepared for the wrath of Ima!'_

Just then, Charles had an incoming text. He looked at the caller id and groaned, "My Mom." He read the message aloud, "Charles Donald Palmer, be warned that your mother is pissed beyond pissed." He looked at his girlfriend, "Oh, shit's gonna hit the fan when I get home…"

"I am sure I will have hurricanes Ziva and Tony on my ass; but it will be worth it. I'm having fun and they can't take that away, now can they?" Beth got that look in her eye that sometimes scared her boyfriend; the same look her Ima had when she was determined to do something.

"Wait until they see your hair," he grinned. "My Dad's gonna shit bricks when he sees the lime green with pink spikes!"

"Well, I like the hot pink with lime green spikes. We match!" She grinned back at him. They had brought the spray-in hair dye with them and done each other's hair to imitate the performers in their favorite band. "Let's take another selfie and post it."

Beth captured their grins and the wild hair and posted the selfie to her social media account, tagging her parents and Uncle Jimmy. The couple settled in for the performance of the band with another tray of nachos and more soft drinks.

About thirty minutes after Beth posted her selfie, Ziva let out a yell after checking her phone. She, Tony, LJ, Rivka and John were watching one of the Harry Potter movies in the family room; Anthony was on his way home from Kings Dominion with Katie, Tim and Delilah.

"Her duck is fried!" Ziva hissed to Tony, showing him the selfie in which they had been tagged. He was about to correct the idiom but once he saw the pink and green hair, he decided that his wife's version was better.

"What the hell is she thinking?" he whispered in Ziva's ear. "PINK and GREEN hair? Has our daughter lost her freaking mind?"

Ziva wasn't as concerned with the hair as the fact that her youngest daughter seemed to be going all out to anger her parents. She had some nerve tagging them in a selfie at a concert two and one half hours from home; a concert that the child had no permission to be attending.

Tony pulled up the image on his phone and texted it to Jimmy, '_They are in deep, deep shit!"_

Jimmy replied almost instantly, '_OMG; he is gonna be grounded forever!'_

Tony showed Ziva the message from Jimmy; she snickered and then commented, "If he lives that long! Her, too!"

Rivka and LJ went to bed around midnight, soon after Anthony was dropped off by the McGee parents and John followed his parents to their house. Tony and Ziva sat in the family room discussing what to do about Beth. Rivka had been grounded for the remainder of the weekend, and they took her phone.

About 0100, Riv's text message alert chimed. Ziva picked up the phone and swiped to read the message, figuring it was from Beth.

_'On I-83 in Harrisburg; should be home around 0330. Are Ima and Abba waiting up?'_

Ziva looked at Tony and grinned an evil grin; she hit reply and typed a response: '_We will be right by the front door when you come in. Your duck is fried.'_

A few minutes later, Beth responded, '_Ima? Why do u have Riv's phone?'_

Tony grabbed the phone from his wife, "My turn!" He typed a reply: '_Because we are the parents and we can take the phone away. Ha!'_

The incoming message tone chimed. _'Go to sleep Abba'_

Ziva took the phone back from Tony. _'WE WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU.'_ She added an emoji with a very angry face and hit send.

"Bet we do not get any more replies," Tony figured the mini-ninja wouldn't poke the bear now that she knew her parents were waiting and angry. Ziva nodded her agreement and picked up the remote to surf the channels. They had to stay awake for at least two to two and one half more hours.

At 0313, by Tony's watch, they heard the sound of the touchpad on the front door lock. Both stood up and headed towards the door. Beth walked in and spotted her parents standing in the entryway.

"Hi, Ima; hi, Abba. Did you have a good day?" she smiled sweetly at them and put her backpack down on the floor.

"DO NOT 'HI, IMA' ME!" she spoke forcefully, but Ziva tried not to shout; she didn't want to wake the others.

"We have a lot to talk about, young lady," Tony motioned to his youngest daughter to go to the kitchen breakfast area. He wanted to be away from the others, who he was sure were still awake and trying to hear what would happen to their sister.

"Sit," he pointed to a chair and sat on the one across from it. Ziva sat between Tony and Beth and glared at her child. "So, did you have fun today?"

Beth was taken aback by Abba's question and how calmly he asked. She knew she was going to get the full wrath of both parents; Abba was too calm and Ima was too quiet.

"Yeah, it was great. We saw fifteen bands, and four of our favorites. The music was awesome, and it was worth whatever punishment you two come up with," the minute she got a bit sassy, Beth regretted it. Her Ima's eyes just about spit fire.

"Well, good; because this is the LAST fun you'll be having for a while. Remember it." Tony pressed his lips together and then took a deep breath. His eyes were as fiery as Ima's.

Ima shifted in her chair and looked at Beth, trying to lock gazes. Beth shifted uncomfortably and looked at her hands. "Look at me, Elizabeth Shannon DiNozzo. What made you think it was okay to sneak out at 0430 and drive to Hershey for the entire day? In fact, you have been gone for almost twenty four hours!"

"If I had asked to go, you would have said no," Beth retorted. She looked at Abba, trying to get a read if she could get some sympathy from him. His look told her the answer was no. "Besides, you had plans for the whole day with LJ."

"This has nothing to do with our plans, your brother, or what ifs," Tony spoke with his teeth clenched. Ziva put her hand on his; she could tell Beth was pushing his buttons and he was close to exploding at her. "YOU WERE MISSING for nearly twenty four hours and we had no way of knowing if you were safe or not. YOU are in the wrong here, missy." He took a deep breath, using the centering technique to try to calm himself some. Flying off the handle would do no good; it would only exacerbate the situation.

Ziva squeezed Tony's hand; she was livid herself. "WHY, BETH? WHY DO YOU WANT US TO WORRY ABOUT YOU? WHY DO YOU WANT TO ANGER US?"

"THE HAIR," Tony hissed. "What were you thinking?"

"Would you have let me go if I had asked?" Beth really wanted to know. "Or would you have said no and then shut down all discussion? I'm fifteen and one half years old; trust me some already."

"YOU HAVE TO EARN TRUST," Tony half-shouted. "You have done nothing to help yourself earn any trust. This bone-headed sneaking out has put my trust meter on negative numbers."

"You didn't ever trust me," Beth started crying and wanted to run to her room. Abba was being unreasonable and Ima was glaring holes through her. "You love me less than the others!" her tears fell down her cheeks and she sniffled.

Ziva held up her hands in a T shape for time out. "Let us all take a breath and gather our thoughts. Shouting and making accusations is not going to get us anywhere. Five minutes of quiet, starting NOW!"

The three of them sat at the kitchen table, watching the timer on Ziva's phone count down the five minutes. Tony did his deep breathing exercises, Ziva closed her eyes and cleared her head, and Beth quietly sniffled and watched the time.

Beth ended up grounded for two months, and lost her phone for two weeks. She apologized to her parents, and they agreed to drop their complaints about her hair as long as she let it grow out before school started.

Charles was grounded for two months as well, and had to surrender his car keys to his parents for a month. Jimmy learned to live with the green and pink hair, even though he had two talks in Gibbs' basement about the hair. Breena confiscated Charles' cell phone for a week and his bank card for the same amount of time.


	5. LJ - October 2035

Chapter 5: LJ – October 2035

LJ dumped his backpack in his cubby by the front door. Another day, and another week, of school was over; one less day to the next vacation. One less day of boredom. Eighth grade had been a big letdown since the beginning of the school year. His honors classes were supposed to be interesting and challenging; HAHAHA…

He walked to the kitchen to get a snack. Abba's truck wasn't in the driveway, so he figured his parents were out somewhere. He opened the fridge and looked at the choices, deciding to make a sandwich with the lunch meat he found in the meat drawer. He grabbed a can of soda and headed to his room with his snack. Maybe he could get a few hours of painting in before dinner; he really wanted to work on the new landscape he had started over the past weekend.

LJ had been painting for about an hour when he heard his sisters come in. They were talking about the cheerleaders at the high school when they passed by his room.

"Hi, LJ," Beth called to her brother. "Where are Ima and Abba?"

"Don't know; no one was home when I got here," he replied.

"Okay, guess they'll be back eventually," Rivka commented. "I have a ton of homework…"

LJ looked up from his canvas, "Got mine done at school. Was eighth grade boring for you two? I hate it; even the honors classes are boring. And all of them are too easy."

Beth shrugged, "It was okay; I liked the honors English and history."

"Eighth grade was okay, some of it was lame. Honors science and math were the best of the classes," Riv added. "What are you taking again?"

"Honors English, honors science, honors geometry, honors history, art, band, CAD two, and PE," he responded. "So far this year, nothing is hard, and most of it is boring. Art is the only class that is interesting at all. Even the CAD two is a piece of cake."

Riv laughed, "Enjoy it little brother; high school is a lot more work; and I'm going to get to mine now." She moved into her room with her backpack to start on homework.

LJ continued to paint until he heard his parents come in the front door. He stopped mid-stroke on a cloud when he heard Ima say his name. He looked up, but she was not in the hallway, but rather out in the entrance foyer. He wondered why she was talking about him. He continued to listen, but his parents were moving towards the kitchen and it got harder to understand what they were saying. He had the feeling that they were still talking about him.

In the kitchen, the parents were indeed discussing their youngest. They had been at a school conference with the teen's teachers. Both were quite shocked to learn that their son was failing all of his classes for the first marking period except band. In that class, he had an A.

"So, do we confront him after dinner, or tomorrow during the day?" Tony asked.

"Confront is rather strong, Tony. Have you learned nothing from the other four? If we confront him, he will give us the silent shoulder," Ziva was all for a discussion as quickly as possible, but did want to avoid any angry outbursts or sullen behavior from her son.

Tony grinned, "Cold shoulder or silent treatment, Zi. Yes, I do know better. I just want to get this issue out in the open with LJ as soon as we can. After all, his teachers did say that he only has another four school days to get his grades up."

"I do not understand. He has always been so good about doing his school work. We have never had any issues until now with him." Ziva reflected on LJ's academic excellence until this current school year. "Remember that in April, we had the opportunity to skip him to ninth grade and HE chose to stay in the middle school."

Tony looked up from the meat he was browning for spaghetti sauce, "I forgot about that; I wonder if he is regretting his choice. Maybe that's how we can start the conversation; the question is when do we have it?"

"I vote for tonight." Ziva wanted to help the teen get to a solution as quickly as possible and to avoid any continued bad grades.

"The girls will both be out tomorrow though; Riv has the Science Fair judging at the elementary school with John, and Beth and Charles have plans with Jimmy and Breena," Tony was for waiting until the next day.

"I had forgotten about their plans; yes, I agree to wait until it is just us and LJ at home," Ziva put the garlic knots that she was preparing into the oven as Tony started the water boiling for the spaghetti. As she closed the oven door, Beth came into the kitchen.

"How close are we to eating, Ima and Abba?"

"Twenty minutes, give or take," Tony answered. "Would you let Riv and LJ know after you set the table, please?"

"Will do," Beth grabbed flatware for five and headed to the dining room. She laid out each place setting and then returned for plates and glasses for beverages. "By the way, it smells delicious! And I'm hungry."

"Toda!" Tony grinned at his youngest ninja.

Thirty minutes later the five DiNozzos were seated at the dining room table enjoying their food. Rivka was sharing about the science fair projects that she had previewed earlier that day. She was excited to be a judge this year and was looking forward to hearing the presentations from the younger kids the next day.

"We picked the projects that will go on to the presentation round today. I'm excited about the two robots we have moving on. One is a helper bot to reach things on the floor for wheelchair bound people. I wish Aunt Dee could come see it!"

"Sounds interesting," Tony remarked. "What about the second one?"

Riv grinned, "I was waiting for you to ask, Abba. It is a robot pizza maker!"

Tony grinned at his middle daughter, "Now that is something I'd like to see!"

"Come to the elementary school at three; that's when it's open to the public," Riv informed her Abba.

Tony made a note in the calendar in his cell phone, earning a glare from Ziva. "Yes, Ima, I know the rule is no devices at the table…" She put out her hand, expecting him to pull the phone back, but to her surprise he placed it in her palm with a contrite look on his face. "Won't happen again, I promise…" Ziva broke out in laughter at his look.

Rivka laughed with her Ima. "Abba is being silly again!" she commented. Beth and LJ rolled their eyes in a shared look.

Ziva turned to Beth, "Are you excited about the trip to Williamsburg with the Palmers?"

"Yes, Ima. Charles is trying to beg off because he thinks that seeing his Dad in the reenactment is going to be embarrassing. I think it'll be cool. I'm also looking forward to hitting the outlet stores with Aunt Breena," Beth responded animatedly. "And no Abba, Uncle Jimmy is not the 'poo boy!' He's the field medic for the American side."

Tony groaned loudly. There were days he wished he hadn't told the kids about when their grandfather DiNozzo participated in the Civil War reenactments. Ziva and the others laughed with Beth. Tony clutched at his heart, "That's right, be mean to Abba…" He pretended to sulk.

LJ grinned at his Abba and held up his hand, moving his thumb a short distance back and forth over his index finger. "Poor Abba, here's the world's tiniest violin playing just for you." His sisters laughed even more and Ziva put her hand on her husband's. She mimicked tears from her eyes with the other hand.

"You all wound me; just who made this delicious dinner for you anyhow?" Tony pouted trying to keep a straight face. He made the mistake of making eye contact with Ziva and they both burst into a fit of laughter.

After dinner, LJ helped clear the table and load the dishwasher. His sisters chose a movie for the family to watch together. Ziva grabbed the cookies she'd made for their movie night snack as Tony prepared the root beer floats for everyone. The five enjoyed a comedy movie for the evening. Beth said good night after the movie since the Palmers were picking her up at 0530. LJ and Rivka helped their parents clean up from the snack before heading to their rooms for the night.

On Saturday morning, Beth was gone with the Palmer family by the time everyone else got up. John came by to pick up Rivka at 0900, leaving LJ with his parents and the usual weekend chores. Ziva gathered sheets and towels from around the house, while Tony cleaned bathrooms and LJ vacuumed. All three kept busy until almost lunch time.

Ziva heated up some leftover meatloaf and macaroni and cheese for the three to have for lunch. She found Tony finishing up in the half bath between their offices.

"Lunch is in about ten minutes, Tony," she was in the doorway of the bathroom, enjoying the view of her husband's posterior as he bent over to wipe the baseboards. Of all of them, he was the only one who cleaned EVERYTHING in the bathrooms when it was his turn at the chore. Tony most certainly did not fit the stereotypical husband who did a half-assed cleaning. He was very thorough with every one of the cleaning chores, and three of the five kids had picked up on that. The one chore he hated and grumbled about was mowing the lawn. She could live with that!

"Okay, I'm just about done with the bathrooms," he looked up at his Ninja. "Like what you see?" he grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows.

"Always!" she said over her shoulder as she headed to the other side of the house to find LJ. He was in the laundry room putting the vacuum cleaner away.

"Everything has been vacuumed, Ima. I think Callie and Lightning are still under your bed, though. When I vacuumed Abba's office, they ran into your room." LJ always tried to warn the cats when it was his turn to vacuum, but this time he hadn't noticed them sleeping under Abba's desk.

Ziva smiled at her youngest, "They will be fine; I am sure they will come running when I put out their food later. Speaking of food, lunch is just about ready. After lunch, Abba and I would like to talk to you."

"Sure, Ima," LJ grinned. "What's for lunch?

"The leftover meatloaf and macaroni and cheese from Thursday night."

"Yes! I'm hungry!" LJ headed towards the kitchen with Ziva following him. Tony came in from the hallway to the master suite and offices as Ziva took the food containers out of the microwave ovens. Each spooned food onto plates and they ate at the table in the breakfast nook. LJ cleared the table after lunch and then returned to sit across from his parents.

"What do you want to talk about, Ima and Abba?" he looked over at them.

Tony spoke first, "How's school going this year?"

"It's okay, I guess," LJ shrugged. "Could be better, could be worse."

"How are your grades?" Ziva asked.

"Okay, I guess," LJ shrugged again. "The work is too easy, really."

Ziva looked at Tony and then at LJ before speaking again. "Are you doing all of the work?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"We had a conference with all of your teachers yesterday. That's where we were when you came home from school," Tony explained. "They are concerned because you are failing every class but band, LJ."

"What? How? I do the work; I think the lowest grade I have on any test is a 98 in science!" LJ was genuinely shocked. He had been completing the assignments.

Ziva was surprised at LJ's statement; the teachers had told her and Tony that LJ was not doing the homework and other assignments. "Your teachers say otherwise, LJ. They say that you are not doing any homework, and other assignments. You are only taking the quizzes and tests according to them."

"Ima, I swear to you that I am doing the homework! I get it done in class and turn it in before class is over," LJ declared.

"What about the paper in English and the project for history?" Tony asked.

"I did those, too. I turned in my final version of the paper on the first due date, well before the final due date. And I took my science project in a week early. I don't get it; I AM doing the work!" LJ was getting angry.

"Okay, we believe you. No need to get angry," Tony tried to defuse the situation a bit. "I guess we need to figure out why there are no grades for the work, especially since you turned it in."

"Abba, I did all of the work!"

Ziva pulled out the printed sheets of supposedly missing work that each teacher had given them at the conference. She put on her reading glasses, and skimmed the pages, and then handed the pages to her husband along with the reading glasses. He skimmed over as well and handed everything back to his wife.

"Let's go through each class in order," Tony suggested. LJ and Ziva nodded.

"First is math; from this printout, you are missing most of the homework assignments," Ziva pointed to the blank spaces for homework grades and showed the page to her son.

"I've done all of them, Ima. I do them in class while the teacher is explaining the lesson to the class. I know how to do the work, so it's boring to have to sit through the lesson. I usually get the homework problems done and turn them in before class is over, Abba." LJ didn't understand why his homework grades were missing.

Tony believed his youngest; LJ loved his math classes, and this year's geometry class was a subject that the boy excelled in. "Would you check with the teacher on Monday to figure out where your work is and why it hasn't been graded?" LJ nodded and Ziva wrote a note on the math assignment print-out for him to take with him on Monday.

"Next is science; the project grade is missing and that is almost half of your grade for the marking period. When did you turn in the project?" Ziva asked.

"It was due last Friday; I gave it to Mr. Henron on Thursday of the week before," LJ remembered handing his finished project on the solar system to his teacher. He had created a three dimensional model of Jupiter, including the moons. "Remember Grandpa helped me with getting the moons of Jupiter connected to my model?"

Tony and Ziva both nodded, and Tony spoke. "Yep, I remember that! You and Grandpa worked almost half of the day to get the moons just how you wanted them!"

"And I took you to school that day so you didn't have to take your project on the bus," Ziva added. "That is certainly odd that there is no grade." She made some notes on the paper and handed it to her son. "Here are the things we remembered for you to follow up on Monday."

Tony picked up the next page. "History; says here that you are missing the major project that was due on Wednesday. What was the assignment?" he looked over at LJ.

"Create something to showcase the tourist attractions, natural resources, or history of the Commonwealth of Virginia," LJ recited. "I did a tourism brochure with photos that Anthony let me use from his collection of photos. I handed it in on a flash drive rather than printing it. I still have a copy on my laptop, too."

Tony scribbled a few notes on the page; Ziva smirked as his handwriting. It was still as messy as ever! He noticed her smirk and grinned. "I know, looks like chicken scratch! It is still readable, though!"

"I can read it," LJ interjected. "Abba's writing isn't that bad. Uncle Nick's is a whole lot worse!"

"Next up is the English paper. It says here that you are missing the outline, the citation assignment, and the first draft assignment, LJ," Tony read off the missing work.

LJ sighed; this one was going to be his Kryptonite. "Abba, I tried to explain to Ms. Gomrad that I write in my head. When I put it on paper or in Word, it is almost the final draft. All that busy work is a pain in the tail. I write better when I do it in my head first."

"LJ, I understand what you are saying. But, in school the idea is to teach you a process. You may be ahead of the others because you can write effectively. You have to play the game and do the steps, even if it is busy work to you," Ziva could relate to her teen's frustration. She had the same issues in her college English classes over a decade ago.

"I get it, too, LJ. I do the same thing, and I did it in school as well. Like Ima said, it's about playing by the rules of the game. I agree that doing an outline in a preset format, and then a separate citation document and all the other STUFF is a royal pain. But if that is a part of the grade, you have to do it," Tony explained.

LJ looked from Abba to Ima, "I don't understand why I have to do the stupid stuff; look at my grade on the final paper. I got a one hundred. The teacher knows I can write an effective argument; she even asked if she could keep my paper as an example to show others."

Ziva sighed and nodded, "LJ, I empathize and sympathize. Really, I do! But as Abba told me when I would get frustrated with the boring steps of the writing process in my classes, it is all about playing by the rules. If that is what is required for the class, then you have to bite your teeth and do it."

LJ and Tony shared a smirk. "It's bite the bullet or grit your teeth, Ima," LJ laughed. "You did that on purpose!" Of the five DiNozzo children, LJ had been the only one to pick up on the fact that his mother often deliberately mangled an idiom to diffuse with some humor. He had also been the only one to notice that Ima often directed the mangled idiom at Abba. It was like a personal 'love language' between them.

"CAD2; seems to be missing the intermediate steps to the project," Ziva read over the printed page. "This is the same issue over and over, LJ. You have to do the steps because they are part of the overall grade, motek."

"But, Ima, I do the steps, just in my head," LJ protested.

Tony sighed, "Your teacher is not a mind-reader, LJ. Despite what you may think otherwise, you have to put the process and steps on paper or computer file for others to see."

Ziva looked at the Art class summary that was on paper; "Same thing for Art. You get the final project done with an excellent grade, but you forget to turn in the intermediate steps. LJ, how can we make you understand that you have to follow the rules of the game, at least while you are in school?"

Tony read the PE grade summary to himself and then showed Ziva the one comment; '_Leroy does not participate in the group sports games during class._'

"PE, LJ, why don't you participate? You are out with Anthony and me when we shoot hoops; you play in the family softball games; and I've seen you in the family touch football games as well. This one I just don't get, LJ," Tony looked at his youngest with a question in his eyes.

"Abba, I just don't like how competitive the other kids are in class. When we play a game with family, it's all fun. Some of the kids at school get all bent out of shape if their side loses. I can't deal with that stupidity," LJ tried to explain. "I'd much rather learn the rules of the game and maybe referee. What I have been doing instead is going to the weight room and working out during class. I log in and out so that Coach Martin can check what I've been doing. I don't understand why I have an F in PE!"

"Coach Martin is not the one listed as your teacher; it says here that is M. Albert," Ziva showed LJ the page.

"That's the girls' coach, Ima! Why would I have the girls' coach as my teacher?"

"Good question," Tony wanted to know the answer as well. Ziva nodded her agreement. "Well, it looks as though we have some follow up to do on these grades; some by LJ and some by one of us, Zi."

On Monday, LJ talked to each of his teachers with the notes from his conversation with Ima and Abba. In the math class, he and the teacher figured out that he had been placing his completed work in the wrong assignment box. His grade changed to an A. For the science project, another student had taken LJ's labels off of his model and replaced them with her name. LJ showed the science teacher the pictures on his phone of the construction and painting work of the Jupiter model over a period of two weeks. That grade also changed to an A. The flash drive with the social studies project was found under the tray for the submitted work; again, LJ's grade changed to an A.

Ziva and Tony met with their son's guidance counselor about the PE teacher assigned to him and once that error was realized, LJ's PE grade changed to a 'Pass.' Ziva mentioned to Tony that she wondered just who the girls' coach had thought was their son. He grinned and whispered back that no one could mistake their fourteen-year-old for a girl! LJ was already taller than his father and had been shaving for the past six months.

The three met together with the English teacher to work out a plan for LJ to complete the intermediate assignments for larger projects. When Ziva explained that LJ had inherited both of his parents' writing styles and techniques, the teacher had confessed that she, too, wrote mostly in her head before committing the words to paper or word processor. She shared tips with LJ to help him get the "busy work" assignments completed. She also offered to work with him as needed. LJ managed to get the missing work done and his grade for the nine weeks became an A-.

The art teacher was not as understanding. Tony called him 'Mr. My-way-or-the-highway' after the man left the room to print out details about the assignments that LJ supposedly missed. Ziva shushed him, but with her eyes silently agreed with her husband. After the conversation, LJ agreed to make more of an effort to complete the work as assigned; Ziva called the guidance counselor to have LJ moved to another teacher's class after the semester ended.

The hardest part for LJ was working on changing his attitude about school. It was still boring and not challenging. Ziva and Tony were frustrated with LJ's attitude; they hoped that he would come to them if he needed to vent or needed ideas on coping. LJ talked to Grandpa about school more than he talked to his parents. Grandpa reminded him of the life rules that he had written when he was seven; LJ reread the rules and added some new ones. His own rule number five would be a good one to apply to school: 'Compromise when I can't agree completely.' He added number ten: 'The game of life is not always easy; play it any way,' and number eleven: 'Sometimes you have to do the little things first to accomplish the big things.'

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**Thanks for reading along on the parenting challenges of our dynamic duo! Next up, "Ziva's Journey" back to Tony and Tali, and a parallel story of Tony and Tali's "Summer of Discovery"**


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